


IronHawk - Or That Time Bucky Thought Tony And Clint Were Dating.

by dara3008



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Blue eyed Tony, Cliche ending, First Kiss, Getting Together, Guilt, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, Swearing, Tony and Clint are very very good bros, like the cliche-est, platonic ironhawk, so much swearing, well kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 15:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17686235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dara3008/pseuds/dara3008
Summary: Moving into Avengers Tower, Bucky didn't expect to fall for a kept man. And yet here he was, guilt ridden and conflicted.





	IronHawk - Or That Time Bucky Thought Tony And Clint Were Dating.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly the Pining isn't that bad. I didn't really go much into detail.  
> This story started with two different ideas:  
> \- A wish for platonic IronHawk, because I think the MCU did my boys dirty and they should be besties (I also lowkey ship them romatically, but that's a different matter for a different day).  
> \- And a fic were Bucky thinks Tony is taken and is Not Okay.
> 
> Unfortunately this is another one of my 'Effing finish it finally, so you can post something new, god damn it' fics, so its not as polished as I hoped it would be, but I also really like the idea, so I really wanted to finish it.
> 
> Sorry about that xD
> 
> I hope you enjoy it anyway!
> 
> \--
> 
> Also, this is some movie/comic hybrid, with Tony having his comic blue eyes and other characters not in the movies or in later movies mentioned.  
> The events of Civil War didn't happen, Steve told Tony about his findings in Winter Soldier and with his, and Sam and Nat's help, he found Bucky a mere three months post WS.
> 
> Yes, he also told Tony about his parents in this fic. It's not mentioned, but I am still bitter about how the movie handled... well everything. So yeah, Tony knows and had enough time to deal with his grief to realise that Bucky was essentially innocent, so there.

1.

„And you will see, the common room is usually very quiet at this time of the day and-“

“I swear to god, Barton, I will fucking end you!”

Steve’s commentary came to a stuttering halt as the voice of a very angry sounding man echoed towards them.

“You are not getting any coffee, Tony, over my dead body!”

Another voice rang out, and Bucky took a slow step back towards the exit. He hadn’t left one fight only to get into another. Natasha’s hand on his arm stopped him, though.

“Dead body?! Oh that can be arranged!”

“Jesus Christ you are a child! Bruce, back me up would you?”

A third voice, timid but rather dry sounding, answered. “I’m not getting between Tony and his coffee, no way in hell.”

Steve and Natasha exchanged exasperated looks, while Sam looked as clueless as Bucky felt. They had just arrived from Romania, where the three had tracked him down about a week ago. Bucky had been in hiding for over three months, his memories coming back baby step by baby step, after the constant conditioning by Hydra had stopped. Steve had found him while he was buying plums of all things.

A week later he had agreed to accompany them to New York, to the Avengers Tower.

He was starting to regret that decision.

His eyes widened when he heard a shocked sounding shout and the squeaking of strained wood. “Are you serious?!” The first voice shouted and that’s when both Natasha and Steve moved forward again, towards the noise.

It turned out to be a kitchen. Not what Bucky was expecting.  There were three men in the room. The first one with short blond hair and a shirt in a hideous purple colour was standing in front of a sleek looking coffee machine, arms protectively outstretched. The second one was a man with short dark hair and a goatee trimmed to perfection, sitting on a chair, his arms folded and pouting. Apparently the squeaking wood had been someone forcing him onto it. The third man was calmly drinking something out of a steaming mug, sitting on one end of the big dining table.

Steve cleared his throat rather loudly. “What is going on in here?”

“Nat!” Ignoring him completely, the goatee man jumped up from the chair and moved towards the Black Widow. “Nat I swear to god, you need to keep him away from me. I will kill him, I am not joking!”

The blond man rushed towards her as well. “Tasha, no! He hasn’t slept in at least 32 hours-“

“If I may, 34 hours, Mr Barton.” Even after Steve warned him about the robotic voice that was called Jarvis, Bucky still jumped slightly and looked up. 34 hours?

“Thank you, Jarvis! 34 hours, Tasha! And he comes in here and demands coffee!” The blond man, turned towards the goatee man again, hitting his shoulder. “The only thing you are getting is warm milk with honey and then you’re going to bed, Tony!”

Warm milk with honey? Blinking, Bucky looked between the two fighting men. But were they really fighting? Because right then it seemed like a disagreement between a mother and her child.

An angry red blush appeared high on Tony’s cheekbones and he slapped the hand that had hit him. “You can shove your fucking milk up your fucking-“

“Tony!” Much to Bucky’s amusement, Steve simply slapped a hand across Tony’s mouth, silencing him. To his even bigger amusement, he immediately pulled it back with a disgusted face, when the goatee man licked it. “Jesus, Tony, don’t be a child.”

Crossing his arms over his chest again, Tony rolled his eyes. “If Birdbrain 1.0 can behave like my mother, then I reserve the right to behave like a kid.”

The blond man groaned in annoyance but before he could say anything Natasha stepped forward, effectively between them. “Ok, children, break it up. Bruce, do you have any of your herbal tea left?”

“Sure, right in the kettle.” The third man answered, hands still firmly around his mug.

Bucky observed how Tony slowly slinked back towards the coffee machine, while the blond man was occupied with staring slack jawed after the Black Widow. He contemplated telling on goatee man but decided he’d rather stay out of… whatever that was. They all stayed silent for a few awkward moments, while Natasha went to pour herself some tea and sit down next to the third man, Bruce.

The coffee machine was so silent that no one noticed it working until the blond man’s eyes snapped towards it when the smell hit them. “Oh my god, you sneaky-“ He made a move towards Tony, who appeared to be using the full mug as a shield.

“Ah ah ah! Don’t want me to burn myself now, do you Mama Clint?” He grinned.

“If it will put you to sleep I will even shoot an arrow at your ass, Stark!”

“So Steve!” Bucky felt Steve jump next to him at the sudden addressing. “Who are your friends?” And suddenly Bucky found himself pinned to the spot by bright blue eyes that seemed to look right into the depths of his soul. A slow grin spread across Tony’s face as he inched back a step for every step Clint made in his direction. “Not that I don’t already know who our guests are, but don’t you think you’re being a little rude, Cap?”

Letting out a long suffering sigh, Steve rolled his eyes. “Right. Of course.” He waved Bucky and Sam forward and they all took a seat at the table, Steve’s hand on his shoulder calming him. “Tony, Clint, Bruce. These are James Barnes, the one I kept telling you about and Sam Wilson, who helped me and Natasha track Bucky down.”

“Wait wait wait, hold up, Stark what do you mean you know who I am?” Sam rested his hand on the table, addressing Tony who was free of Clint’s clutches for now, the blond man had apparently given up stealing the coffee, Bucky observed.

Goatee man raised his eyebrows at Sam, his gaze just as piercing as it had been on Bucky. “Please, Wilson, you think there’s someone flying around with artificial wings and I wouldn’t want to know all about it? Besides, Rhodey speaks highly of you.”

Sam’s face lit up with recognition. “Colonel Rhodes?”

“The one and only Cuddle Bear.”

“What about me then?” Tony’s eyes snapped back to Bucky, the soft smile that had formed with the ridiculous nickname ‘Cuddle Bear’ vanishing. Before he could answer though, Steve beat him to it.

“Tony was one of the Project Insight targets, Bucky.” He winced at that but Steve put a reassuring hand on his knee while Tony rolled his eyes.

“Not my first time being targeted, Barnes, forget about it.”

Bucky slowly nodded and Steve continued. ”Before I’ve even returned to New York he had already gathered as much information about the incident as possible, including you. I’ve filled him in on the rest and he has been a big help in finding you.”

Even though it was Steve that was talking, Bucky’s eyes remained fixed on Tony. The man had looked down when Steve mentioned him being helpful, taking a deep gulp out of his obviously still piping hot coffee. “I see.”

Finishing the coffee, Tony all but threw the mug into the sink and clapped his hands together. “Anyway! Rooms! Steve, Nat, you know where yours are, Sam can have the one under Nat’s, while Bucky can have the one above Steve’s. Deal? Deal. I got work to do.”

Jumping at the rushed information, Bucky opened his mouth to ask what the hell he was talking about, but Clint’s shout interrupted him.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Before anyone could do anything, Clint had Tony thrown over his shoulders in a fireman’s grip. “No work, bed.”

“Barton I swear to fuck…”

The rest of the sentence was silenced as Clint started to jog towards the elevator they all had come through, and vanished.

Silence took over for a few seconds until Bruce cleared his throat. Bucky’s eyes snapped towards him in surprise, having completely forgotten that the man was even there. “Well, seeing as it’s already rather late, I will excuse myself to bed. It’s very nice meeting you, James and Sam, but I’m afraid I haven’t had a lot of sleep the other night. I’m sure we will see each other tomorrow. Welcome to the tower.” He gave them all a calm but somewhat strained smile, left his own mug in the sink and went the same way the other two had gone.

“That… That was weird. Was that weird?” Sam finally asked, looking around like he expected something else to happen. Bucky silently agreed.

Sighing again, Steve shook his head. “I’m afraid that was rather normal. But anyway, come on, I will show you your rooms.”

At the end of the day, Bucky was pretty sure his eyes would never go back to their original size, confusion and wonder never leaving them.

He was still kind off regretting not staying in Romania.

It didn’t help that his dreams were plagued with falling aircrafts, smudged red-blue-white colours, piercing blue eyes and a map with thousands of names, one particular one standing out.

Tony Stark.

 

 

2.

The ‘rooms’ turned out to be complete floors for each person. Bucky wasn’t sure why someone would need so much space for themselves, but the bed was soft, the windows bullet-proofed and Steve was a 10 second elevator ride away.

He didn’t necessarily feel save, but save enough.

He slept 5 hours. Definitely a new record.

The next few weeks were pretty uneventful as far as Bucky could tell.

He usually spent a lot of time on Steve’s floor or in the gym with him. Occasionally he would talk with Sam or Natasha. Sometimes with Clint. He has seen Bruce three times after their initial first meeting, Tony twice. Apparently it was normal that Bruce stayed in his lab, while Tony stayed in his workshop.

It was 10am on one particular day though, that a loud crash was heard from somewhere above them. While Bucky and Sam jumped up in alarm, Natasha barely lifted an eyebrow while Clint muttered something that sounded like ‘Fucking again’ and jogged towards the elevator. He returned moments later with a grinning Tony in tow. A grinning Tony who had a filthy looking rag pressed against his forehead, clearly bloody. Clint was talking at him, obviously annoyed, with his hand pressed to the small of his back.

Bucky observed the placement with curiosity. What exactly was the relationship between those two? Because while the first scene with them had been a complete Mother/Child scenario, this time Clint looked almost like a concerned lover.

Tony ignored him though and simply walked towards Natasha who was eying the injury with almost fond exasperation. Dropping something into her lap, Tony put his unoccupied hand on his hip, Clint’s hand still in place. “You, my lovely Widow, can take on the Hulk now.”

Raising his eyebrows, Bucky observed a bright grin light up Natasha’s usually stoic face. “You’re shitting me!” Bucky recognized the devices in her lap as her Widow Bites, which she excitedly pulled onto her wrists.

“Nope.” Popping the p, Tony leaned back against Clint’s chest without even glancing behind him. The movement was so casual and normal that the cogs started turning in Bucky’s mind again. Were those two actually…? No. Maybe?

“Hey, Buck? Mind fetching the first aid kit from the kitchen? It’s under the sink.” Clint smiled at him, but at the same time made an impatient gesture, so Bucky simply complied. He could still hear Tony talk from the kitchen though.

“I just tested them. My… well my window needs to be replaced now, but who cares? They work!” Coming back he saw Tony move his hands while talking, rag now uselessly clutched in one, while a thin trail of blood was trickling down the side of his head.

Natasha stood up now, walking closer and looking at the head injury again. “Why were you testing them in your room, Tony, why not in the workshop?”

Depositing the kit on the table, Bucky started to pull out antiseptic, some cotton balls and bandages.

“Because I just woke up with the solution! There was no need to waste time and-“

Clint stopped the rambling by squeezing the arm that was wound around Tony’s waist painfully, the apparent genius letting out a whoosh of air. “How about the need to not kill yourself, you asshat?”

“Oh shush, birdy, nothing happened and I-ow!” While the talking had been going on, Bucky had positioned himself right next to Tony and had started carefully dabbing at the injury with a cotton ball soaked in antiseptic. Blue, wide eyes snapped towards him and just like that Bucky momentarily forgot how to breathe, his hands stilling.

Gulping when Tony only blinked at him in obvious confusion, Bucky concentrated his eyes on the cut and continued to dab. “Go on, tell Natasha what those things can do.” He hoped he only imagined the roughness of his voice.

“Right.” The word was dragged out slowly, Tony’s eyes not leaving for a few more moments. Then he seemed to snap out of his stupor. “Right! They totally pulverized my window, but don’t worry, they wouldn’t actually do the same to poor old Bruce, they would just stun him.” Deciding that the cut wouldn’t actually need a bandage, Bucky stepped away and pulled out the biggest bad aid he could find in the kit, moving back to put it on. “-and obviously you can’t just test them on Hulk either, so we will have to see them in action down in the gym, so-Thank you, Bucky-wanna go now?”

Slightly confused by the whole situation, Bucky moved away again and nodded when the blue eyes landed on him briefly. “No worries.”

Tony’s eyes rolled up as if he tried to see the band aid and a grin broke out on his face again, completely directed at Bucky, who couldn’t help but grin back slightly. The moment was over as soon as it started and Tony pulled away from the arm still around his waist to lead Natasha towards the elevator, both of them followed by Clint.

Right. Clint. Who Tony may or may not be in a relationship with.

Sinking back into his seat next to Sam, Bucky leaned against it. Sam’s eyes got bigger and bigger until-

“Dude, are Hawkeye and Iron Man fucking?”

He let out a groan.

 

 

3.

On the same day, Bucky anxiously waited for Steve to return from his run.

Jesus, was he lusting after a taken man? A man he knew next to nothing about? Was it the goatee? He had to admit, he has always been a fan of beards. Was it the eyes? Because the colour was fascinating. Was it the slightly smaller frame? Bucky would probably be able to lift him up with his metal arm alone.

Oh god, now he was thinking about wall sex.

“Jesus mother of g-“

“Bucky?” Spinning around with his hands in his hair – he should probably cut it soon – Bucky stared at Steve, wondering how long he was already standing there. “Are you ok?” The amusement in Steve’s eyes slowly vanished, concern taking its place. “It’s not the memories is it?” He let the towel in his hands fall onto his bed, his still slightly wet hair from the apparent shower sticking out in every direction.

Letting his hands fall down, Bucky sighed. “No, nothing like that.” He sat down on the bed and after a second just flopped backwards. “’m fine.”

“Obviously.” Steve answered drily and just let himself fall down next to him. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No.” They just lay there for some time, Steve actually not pushing him for once. Well, that just infuriated Bucky even more. “Yes.” He knocked their knees together when Steve snorted. “I don’t know.”

Another snort followed by a chuckle. “We can always just stay here for all of eternity.”

“Smartass.” Sighing, Bucky dragged himself into a sitting position. “Steve. Fellas can be with Fellas now, right? Legally?”

Steve’s eyes widened slightly in understanding and he sat up as well. “Yeah. I mean, there’s still a lot of prejudice going around, but it’s not illegal anymore, no.” Bucky felt Steve’s eyes on him but didn’t look back, not even when he felt the hand on his shoulders. “Is it someone from the team?”

Bucky huffed out a laugh because of course Steve would immediately know what was going on. “Maybe. I won’t tell you who, yet, though.” He used a teasing tone to hide the guilt in his eyes.

He was the literal worst, if Tony was with Clint. And now he couldn’t ask because Steve would correctly assume that it was one of them.

“Bucky, just know that they are all very open-minded.” The hand on his shoulder gave him a few pats. “Tony regularly attends Galas and parades, the others join him sometimes so really you have nothing to be afraid of here.”

Well, that was at least some kind of relief. Bucky smiled at Steve, patting the hand on his shoulder back. “Times sure have changed, huh, Stevie?”

“They sure did.”

Too bad lusting after someone else’ fella was probably still a very bad and frowned upon thing.

 

 

4.

Another few weeks went by and Bucky was ready to lose his mind.  By then those blue eyes visited his dreams almost every second night, that wicked grin, those rough looking hands, everything right there in his bed.

And his suspicions about Tony and Clint only seemed to confirm themselves the more he saw those two together. Sure, sometimes they were back to the Mother/Child like banter he saw when he first arrived at the tower but usually it felt different.

Like a marries couple, really.

Like the one time when they had all watched a movie and about halfway in Tony had staggered into the common room. Clint had absentmindedly opened his arms and Tony had all but crawled into them, falling asleep just like that. Seriously, the only thing missing from some kind of romantic movie scene, would’ve been if Clint had kissed his forehead.

But the more obvious their relationship became to Bucky, the more his own feelings seemed to grow. He felt awful about it, what the hell was wrong with him? But he just couldn’t stop thinking about Tony.

It didn’t help that Tony was actually a really cool guy, too. If it was just the physical attraction then Bucky could’ve ignored it, but he liked Tony.

He liked it when Tony worked on his arm, liked the rush of information he got about it because Tony couldn’t stay quiet for the life of him. He liked being down in the workshop and seeing Tony in his element. He wanted to thank Clint and Bruce for sending him down with food sometimes, whenever the genius forgot to eat.

He actually had patched Tony up two more times in those weeks.

No wonder Clint was so protective the whole time, genius or not, Tony really didn’t know how to take care of himself.

And maybe, Bucky started to be a little protective as well.

Not as bad as Clint, but he tended to frown at Tony when he saw him drink his fourth cup of coffee, or take the explosives from him when he knew that Tony was awake for more than 12 hours.

Subtle things.

But Clint still started to throw Bucky weird glances from time to time. Usually when Bucky was a little too eager to bring Tony a sandwich or volunteered to get him from the workshop for movie nights.

Maybe Bucky wasn’t being as subtle as he thought he was.

Well, at the end of the day it was still Clint’s arms that Tony curled up in on the couch.

 

 

5.

Bucky was down in the gym, destroying a punching bag when he heard someone enter. Of course it was Tony. Dressed in a loose black tank top and grey sweatpants riding low on his hips, the arc reactor shining brightly through the thin fabric, he looked absolutely stunning and Bucky tried really hard not to stare.

Tony noticed him soon enough, too. “Oh Buck! Perfect! I got some updates for my gauntlet glove, can you help me test it?” Turning towards the genius, Bucky gave him a slightly pained smile and walked up to him. Tony showed him a thin bracelet on his wrist and pushed a barely visibel button. The thing expanded into a thin layer of red and gold alloy, encasing his hand. “Neat huh? This will come in handy for Galas and such, things were I can neither bring the Armour nor the Suitcase.“

Bucky frowned. “Will that even do anything? It looks like silk.” He reached out and prodded the alloy, raising his eyebrows when he felt the actual hardness of it.

“Yeah, they are sturdy as shit.” Tony grinned, putting the second glove on. “Sure, in a real fight they won’t help much, but they will definitely give me enough time to call the Armour. This baby can survive a direct bullet.”

Nodding, Bucky walked towards the ring in the middle of the gym, holding the rope up for Tony to follow. “Alright, so normal arm or metal arm?”

“Oh, Bucky bear, you know I will always choose the metal arm.” The genius purred, coming unnecessarily close as he moved past him. Bucky had to swallow as Tony looked up at him through his eyelashes.

That was also a thing with Tony. He flirted. Always. He even flirted with Steve! All the Avengers, really. And other people. Captain Danvers. That Strange guy. The blind lawyer. Rhodes. Pepper Potts. Everyone. Obviously Barton, too.

And Bucky. Bucky, too.

It was confusing.

 

 

6.

“-keep doing this, Tony. Seriously, you need to take better care of yourself.”

Bucky stopped on his way out of the elevator, his fingers on the warm plate in his hand, tightening. That was Clint’s voice. In the workshop.

“And you need to stop worrying so much, Clint. I’m fine.” With Tony. Their conversation was softer than usually. Tony didn’t even have the usual snark. “I survived life without you guys, you know?” There was the amusement.

Clint was silent for a moment, and Bucky almost managed to take another step forward, but then he spoke up again. “The thing is that you don’t have to, Tones. Not anymore. You have us now, so even when Rhodes and Pepper aren’t here, you have people who care about you.”

“Ugh, why are you being so emotional?” The snark was different too, tighter sounding and a little forced. “Listen to me when I tell you that I’m not a baby.”

He heard a huff and a soft thump. “Not only babies need to be taken care of, asshole.” Shaking his head in annoyance at himself, Bucky started moving again. He was a goddamn assassin, why was he lurking around, not brave enough to enter a stupid room? Tony and Clint looked toward him, the second he came through the door. They were sitting very closely, Bucky noticed. With Tony straddling a chair and Clint sitting on the bench in front of him. Tony had a new band aid on his cheek. His face was smudged with grease, but that wasn’t anything new. Clint let out an amused huff suddenly. “See, even Barnes cares for your stupid well being.”

Bucky winced at his words. And so did Tony, for some reason. Clint didn’t look annoyed or jealous. Maybe Bucky wasn’t as obvious as he thought. Maybe Clint wasn’t yet planning his murder for daring to get close to his boyfriend. “Uh... I got you dinner?”

“What is it with everyone and trying to baby me?” The words seemed annoyed, but Tony’s lips shifted into a tiny smile.

“I’m sorry?” Bucky was still compelled to say.

Clint grinned at him outright now, though there was a weird glint in his eyes that the soldier didn’t like. “Don’t apologize, feed the self-proclaimed genius.”

“Excuse you, a lot of people call me a genius. Understandably!”

Both Bucky and Clint chuckled at him and Bucky relaxed as he came closer and offered the plate. “Do you want it, or not, genius?” With squinted eyes, Tony grabbed the added fork and stabbed at Bruce’ lasagna. “There you go.” He smiled, but quickly looked at Clint when he saw shifting to his side.

“Since you are in good hands now, I’ll go.” The archer said as he stretched his arms over his head. “Nat and I were supposed to eat lunch together and you know she will kill me, if I’m late... again.”

“Uuuuh hot date!” Tony’s snicker followed Barton out the door, the archer only throwing a middle finger into the air. Bucky frowned at him, confusion probably written all over his face. “What? Don’t you think something’s going on there?” The genius asked with a laugh and Bucky blinked.

Was that... Wait. Was that masked jealousy? A joke? What was that? “I’m sure it’s nothing, Tony.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Pfft, whatever you say.” He took another bite of his dinner, but quickly looked at Bucky slyly. “Wanna see something cool?”

And well... Bucky always wanted to see something cool, didn’t he?

 

 

7.

Things came to a sudden stop, when Tony got himself thrown into a building.

Sure he had been wearing his armour at the time, but the team still hurried to his side, because he hadn’t jumped up in his usual blasé fashion. When they arrived next to him, they heard a low groan and Bucky jumped into action to tear the face plate off. “Easy! Easy, soldier, geez.” Was what greeted them, Tony’s eyebrows pinched in annoyance. “God, I’m decidedly too old for this shit.” He groaned once more and sat up.

“Christ, Tony.” Steve breathed, while Clint hit his bow upside the helmets back.

“Give a sign of life asshole, Jesus we thought you were seriously hurt.” He hissed, concern vivid in his eyes.

Bucky could only nod in agreement while Tony rolled his eyes. “My communicator broke, but if it will satisfy you, I probably have some cracked, if not broken rips.”

“Yes, thank you, that makes me feel oh so much better.” Clint snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

Natasha chuckled lowly and put a hand on his shoulder. “He’s fine, Clint. It’s okay.”

“Anyway.” He growled. “Barnes, care to help our resident idiot up and get him to med?”

Bucky blinked and looked between the two for a second, Tony seeming vaguely uncomfortable. “Uh, sure, but shouldn’t you do it?”

Clint raised his eyebrows. “Why? You don’t want to?” Tony grumbled something in protest, his eyes a little downcast as the soldier reached out to pull him up.

“No, it’s fine. I just thought you would want...” Bucky fumbled. “You know, as his partner...”

“What are you on about, you’re his partner, too? We all are.”

Tony’s “I’m actually quite capable to do shit myself, thank you.” got drowned out and completely faded to silence as Bucky huffed in frustration and finally said: “I meant because he’s your boyfriend and all.”

Everyone stopped. Everyone stared at him. It was New York, post battle with the usual sounds that accompanied that combination, but Bucky swore he could have heard a pin fall right then. He had said something wrong. He didn’t know what exactly, but he had said something wrong. Maybe Tony and Clint weren’t out? Fuck, but they were so obvious about it, surely that wasn’t the case?

But before he could think himself into a panic, it was Natasha of all people who cracked up first. Into maniacal laughter. Bruce joined her in a surprisingly open chuckle, while Tony had completely frozen in his grasp. “Bucky, what?” Steve asked in such a confused voice, that Bucky suddenly felt like an idiot.

It was Sam, who came to his rescue. Well kind of. “Wait, why’s that funny?”

Steve turned towards him with huge eyes. But it was Clint who finally snapped out of his open-mouthed state and asked: “Hold up a second. Are you saying that both of you think that Tony and I are dating?”

Bucky swallowed, while both horror and a tiny glimmer of hope started to resurface. “Are... Are you not?” Natasha, who had slowly started to calm down again, wheezed and started off again. “Okay, I get it, we’re wrong.” The soldier finally snapped, humiliation starting to trigger his fight reflex.

Tony, who until then had been completely silent, suddenly shifted next to him and Bucky noticed the conflicted expression on his face. “Wait, you actually thought I was with Barton?” Neither seemed offended, which was at least a relief. Tony’s weird reaction was concerning, though.

“I... Yeah?” He grimaced, and frowned more when he saw Tony’s shoulders slump a little.

“Oh.” Something weird was happening, and Bucky didn’t like that he once again didn’t know what was wrong.

Once everyone calmed down, Bucky finally helped Tony to the med team, and the genius made the usual fuss about other people making a fuss about him. He didn’t quite look at Bucky though. And when Steve joined them, he still didn’t seem inclined to talk to either of them.

 

 

+1

It had been a week since the mission and Bucky hadn’t seen Tony at all. Not for lack of trying, mind you. The genius was locked in his workshop and the only people allowed in were Pepper and Rhodes. And Barton.

And Bucky didn’t know what he had done. Neither Clint nor Tony had seemed upset by his assumption, both had just seemed confused. And if they were upset about it, wouldn’t they avoid each other as much as they avoided him? But no, it was just Bucky that was being avoided.

And it was driving him insane.

So, one evening, he donned his blackest outfit – he didn’t think his Winter Solider gear would garner much of a positive reaction – and started to scheme. Jarvis would be a problem, but not necessarily an impossible barrier. In his Winter Soldier days he had sneaked into many highly secured mansions and while Jarvis was definitely something else, he still had skills.

Tony wouldn’t like it. He might even be really, really pissed. But Bucky was desperate. He at least wanted to know why he was being shunned.

So he did it. Somehow, he wasn’t even quite sure how exactly, he managed to sneak into the genius’ bedroom. Later, when he would think about it more, he would figure out that Jarvis had probably let him pass. He would have to thank him for that somehow. But right then, he waited.

He had chosen a day, where Tony had spent a considerable amount of time in the workshop without sleeping. Someone ought to have forced Tony to his room by then, at least he hoped. And he seemed to be in luck, because not even half an hour after arriving, he heard the elevator arrive. The room was well lit, and Bucky sat on a couch that was easily spotted. He wanted to talk to the man, not kill him via heart attack, after all.

Tony, of course, jumped anyway. “Jesus fuck, James!” Ah. He only ever called him ‘James’ when something serious was going on. “How did you even get in here?”

“Unimportant, I need to talk to you.” He said it in his best Soldier voice. Probably not his best choice, but it was what he usually reverted back to, when he was uncomfortable or nervous. “And you were avoiding me.” Tony didn’t protest, but looked away from him with a frown. Bucky sighed. “So it’s true then. I didn’t imagine it.”

“No, you did not.” Hearing it so plainly... hurt.

“Why?”

“Because I had to think.” Tony sighed, but Bucky perked up a little when he moved to sit down next to him on the couch. “I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” Bucky turned to him, pulling a leg onto the couch. “But why?”

The genius sighed again, almost a groan. “Okay, evidentially I can’t avoid you forever, so I need to ask you something.” Bucky frowned at the thought that that had even been an option.

“Go on.” This was awkward.

“Okay.” Mirroring Bucky’s position on the couch, Tony faced him. “You really thought I was with Clint?”

The soldier blushed slightly. “Yes. I’m sorry if that... offended you?”

“Nah, nothing like that.” Tony shook his head, and his frown was very much back. “It’s just... Like an actual exclusive relationship? Which is why you were so weird when I teased him about Natasha?”

“Yeah, I... I guess?” Bucky didn’t quite know where he was going with this.

Tony bit his lip, posture closing up a little. “Then why did you flirt with me?”

His voice was soft and confused and Bucky blinked at him. Had he flirted with Tony? He knew that Tony had flirted with him, but had he flirted back? Shit, he had hadn’t he? How had he not even noticed?

His silence must have given Tony some kind of answer, because the genius let out a soft breath. “So it was just for fun, huh? Should have known.” He smiled, but it just seemed sad.

“Should I... should I not have done that?” Bucky was still confused by the conversation. Had he overstepped? Had Tony disliked being flirted back at?

A bitter little chuckle left Tony’s chest, but he shook his head again. “No, Buck, it was me who misunderstood. It’s really not your fault.”

“But misunderstood what exactly?” It still wasn’t making sense. At least not to Bucky.

The genius was getting frustrated, though. “Do I really have to spell it out here?” When the soldier only looked at him, Tony groaned. “Okay listen. You flirted with me. So I kind of thought...” He trailed off, his shoulders slumping a little. “I thought you might actually like me or something.”

Bucky blinked. His head was seriously starting to hurt. “But, I do like you.” He said it slowly, so there was no mistaking his words. Tony, obviously, misunderstood anyway.

“No, I mean... uh. Romantically. Or, you know... sexually.” He grimaced a little at his choice of words.

Bucky shifted a little, slowly realising what had happened. “You thought, because I assumed you were with Clint, that the flirting was just play?” When the genius slowly nodded, Bucky sighed. “That wasn’t the case, Tony. I really do like you, and I mean that exactly like you thought I did.” Tony looked at him with wide eyes then, but he still looked unconvinced. “Yes, I thought you were with Clint, but that’s why I never made a real move. I was berating myself for wanting to be with you even though you were a kept man. Well, assumed kept man.”

“Do you really mean that?” Bucky had never seen Tony look so small before. While never the tallest man in the room, his persona took up so much great space, that even Bucky sometimes forgot that the man was almost a head shorter than him. Now, though, he looked uncertain and... scared.

Giving him time to move away, Bucky slowly brought his hands up to Tony’s face and leaned in. When the genius didn’t move, he gently brushed their lips together, for barely even a kiss. When Tony sighed against his lips, like he had been holding his breath, Bucky pulled away and leaned their foreheads together. “That answer your question?” He asked with a small smile. Slowly, the genius returned it with a smile of his own.

“I don’t know. Maybe you should try a few more times to convince me.”


End file.
